City of Dallas officials have begun determining how they will spend the tax dollars of Dallas residents throughout the upcoming fiscal year, which begins October 1.
City Manager T.C. Broadnax released his proposed $4.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2023-24 on Friday, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Chief Financial Officer Jack Ireland and Budget & Management Services Director Janette Weedon delivered a presentation to the Dallas City Council on Tuesday, breaking down the proposed spending for FY23-24.
City spending in the proposed budget is divided by “Strategic Priority Area” as follows:
- Transportation and Infrastructure — $1,690,731,553
- Public Safety — $1,195,849,229
- Economic Development — $596,879,447
- Environment & Sustainability — $561,379,781
- Quality of Life, Arts, & Culture — $312,478,154
- Government Performance & Financial Management — $191,872,031
- Housing & Homelessness Solutions — $52,413,880
- Workforce, Education, & Equity — $26,640,340
With public safety accounting for the second largest proposed expenditure, one priority highlighted by City staff is the need to address the Dallas Police Department’s shortage of officers. However, the City’s goal of hiring 290 recruits falls short of the 900 new officers the DPD needs.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, a City analysis has determined that Dallas needs about three officers for every 1,000 residents, which amounts to roughly 4,000 officers total. DPD staffing levels have hovered around 3,100 sworn personnel.
DPD Chief Eddie Garcia told council members Tuesday that his department is working to retain current officers in addition to hiring new ones. He also said the DPD’s staffing issues are not unique but are instead part of a nationwide shortage of police officers.
As transportation and infrastructure comprise the most significant spending priority, City Manager T.C. Broadnax proposed spending $150.2 million on public works projects, including maintenance and improvement of 787 road lane miles, sidewalk projects, and bridge maintenance.
The proposed budget includes $35.1 million for stormwater and drainage projects, $9.5 million for City facility maintenance, and $2 million for a sidewalk cost-share program in which residents can evenly split the cost of replacing their sidewalks with the City.
Other significant expenditures are positioned as a response to the ransomware attack against the City that reportedly occurred at the beginning of May.
Broadnax recommended spending an additional $7.8 million on IT security after the City announced hackers obtained the personal data of “certain individuals” in the apparent ransomware attack in May.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the City insisted for three months that no sensitive information was accessed by the hackers.
In a City survey on spending priorities, a plurality of Dallas residents said they support increasing funding for police services. The second most popular spending priority chosen was infrastructure.
In addition, a plurality of residents supports cutting spending on art and cultural programs and environmental programs. Under the current 2022-2023 budget, the City allocated $319.2 million to arts and culture and $627.9 million to environmental programs.
There are several upcoming opportunities for Dallas residents to provide their input on the budget to council members before the FY23-24 budget is finalized.
Between August 10 and August 24, each district will hold at least one town hall meeting for constituents to discuss their thoughts on the budget with their council representative. A schedule of these town hall meetings can be found here.
The Dallas City Council will vote to adopt a new budget on September 20, and the new fiscal year will begin on October 1.